A gas injection system, including an extraction plate having an extraction aperture for allowing passage of an ion beam through the extraction plate, the extraction plate further having a gas slot for expulsion of a residue removal gas from the extraction plate. The gas injection system may include a gas conduit extending through the extraction plate between the gas slot and a gas manifold, a gas source connected in fluid communication with the gas manifold, the gas source containing the residue removal gas. The gas manifold may include a valve adjustable between a first position, wherein the residue removal gas is allowed to flow into the extraction plate, and a second portion, wherein the residue removal gas can be vented from the extraction plate. The gas injection system may further include a manifold cover coupled to the gas manifold.
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1. A gas injection system for an ion beam device, the gas injection system comprising an extraction plate having an extraction aperture for allowing passage of an ion beam through the extraction plate, the extraction plate further having a gas slot formed therein for facilitating expulsion of gas from the extraction plate.
12. A method of manufacturing an extraction plate for a gas injection system, the method comprising:
forming an elongated extraction aperture in a plate;
forming a gas slot in a first side of the plate on a first side of the extraction aperture; and
forming a network of conduits in the plate for putting the gas slot in fluid communication with a gas source, the network of conduits including a slot conduit intersecting the gas slot.
11. A gas injection system for an ion beam device, the gas injection system comprising:
an extraction plate having an extraction aperture for allowing passage of an ion beam through the extraction plate, the extraction plate further having a gas slot for facilitating expulsion of a residue removal gas from the extraction plate;
a gas conduit extending through the extraction plate between the gas slot and a gas manifold mounted to the extraction plate;
a gas source connected in fluid communication with the gas manifold, the gas source containing the residue removal gas, the gas manifold including a valve selectively adjustable between a first position, wherein the residue removal gas is allowed to flow into the extraction plate, and a second position, wherein the residue removal gas can be vented from the extraction plate; and
a manifold cover coupled to the gas manifold, the manifold cover including an electronically-controllable drive mechanism coupled to the valve and adapted to move the valve between the first position and the second position.
2. The gas injection system of
3. The gas injection system of
4. The gas injection system of
5. The gas injection system of
6. The gas injection system of
7. The gas injection system of
8. The gas injection system of
10. The gas injection system of
13. The method of
a manifold conduit extending from an edge of the plate; and
an interconnect conduit extending between the manifold conduit and the slot conduit.
14. The method of
15. The method of
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17. The method of
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19. The method of
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This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/436,047, filed Dec. 19, 2016, entitled “GAS INJECTION SYSTEM FOR ION BEAM DEVICE,” which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to the field of ion beam devices, and more particularly to an apparatus and method for injecting residue removal gases into a process chamber of an ion beam device.
In order to create desired surface features on a semiconductor wafer or other substrate, an ion beam of prescribed energy may be projected onto the surface of the substrate in a predetermined pattern to “etch” the desired features into the substrate. During this etching process, the substrate can be mechanically driven or “scanned” in a direction transverse to an ion beam projected onto the substrate by an ion source. For example, if an ion beam is projected along a horizontal plane toward a vertically-oriented substrate, the substrate may be scanned in a vertical direction and/or in a lateral direction perpendicular to the projected ion beam. Thus, the entire surface of the substrate can be exposed to the ion beam.
Etching a substrate with an ion beam creates residue in the form of sputtered atoms dislodged from the etched surface of the substrate and redeposited on another portion of the substrate. This residue can be detrimental to the quality of a finished substrate if not removed. In order to remove the residue, a substrate can be exposed to various “residue removal gases,” such as methanol, ethanol, or isopropanol before, during, and/or after etching of the substrate. Such residue removal gases may react with atoms sputtered from an etched surface of a substrate to form volatile molecules. These volatile molecules can then be evacuated using vacuum pumps or the like.
Conventionally, residue removal gases are introduced into a process chamber of an ion beam device through a so-called “shower head” structure located adjacent a substrate being processed. In order to provide clearance for the substrate and for components of the ion beam apparatus, the shower head is commonly positioned some distance away from the substrate. Thus, the presence of the shower head necessitates a process chamber significantly larger than would otherwise be necessary. Additionally, since the shower head is positioned a significant distance away from a substrate, the residue removal gases emitted by the shower head diffuse throughout much of the process chamber before drifting into contact with the substrate. Much of the residue removal gases are removed from the process chamber before reaching the surface of the substrate, resulting in inefficient and ineffective delivery of the residue removal gases.
With respect to these and other considerations the present improvements may be useful.
This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is this Summary intended as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
An exemplary embodiment of a gas injection system for an ion beam device in accordance with the present disclosure may include an extraction plate having an extraction aperture for allowing passage of an ion beam through the extraction plate, the extraction plate further having a gas slot for facilitating expulsion of gas from the extraction plate.
Another exemplary embodiment of a gas injection system for an ion beam device in accordance with the present disclosure may include an extraction plate having an extraction aperture for allowing passage of an ion beam through the extraction plate, the extraction plate further having a gas slot for facilitating expulsion of a residue removal gas from the extraction plate. This embodiment may further include a gas conduit extending through the extraction plate between the gas slot and a gas manifold mounted to the extraction plate. A gas source may be connected in fluid communication with the gas manifold, the gas source containing the residue removal gas. The gas manifold may include a valve selectively adjustable between a first position, wherein the residue removal gas is allowed to flow into the extraction plate, and a second portion, wherein the residue removal gas can be vented from the extraction plate, and a manifold cover coupled to the gas manifold. The manifold cover may include an electronically-controllable drive mechanism coupled to the valve and adapted to move the valve between the first position and the second position.
An exemplary embodiment of a method of manufacturing an extraction plate for a gas injection system an in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure may include forming an elongated extraction aperture in a plate. The method may further include forming a gas slot in a first side of the plate on a first side of the extraction aperture, and forming a network of conduits in the plate for putting the gas slot in fluid communication with a gas source, the network of conduits including a slot conduit intersecting the first gas slot.
By way of example, various embodiments of the disclosed apparatus will now be described, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The present embodiments will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein some embodiments are shown. The subject matter of the present disclosure may be embodied in many different forms and are not to be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. These embodiments are provided so this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art. In the drawings, like numbers refer to like elements throughout.
The present embodiments provide a novel system and method for treating substrates, and in particular a novel gas injection system and method of manufacturing the same, such system adapted to remove residual etched material from a substrate surface. In particular embodiments, an extraction plate having integrated gas slots for emitting one or more residue removal gases in close proximity to a substrate surface before, during, and/or after etching of the surface is disclosed.
The bias supply 116 may be configured to generate a voltage difference between the plasma chamber 102 and a substrate stage 124 disposed in the process chamber 106. In the embodiment of
The ion beam 120 may be extracted through an extraction plate 118, and may be directed into the process chamber 106 to a substrate 122 held on the substrate stage 124. In various embodiments, the substrate stage 124 may be movable with respect to the extraction plate 118. For example, the substrate stage 124 may be movable in a direction parallel to the Z-axis of the Cartesian coordinate system as indicated by arrow 125. In this manner, a distance between the surface of the substrate 122 and extraction plate 118 may be varied. In various embodiments, the substrate stage 124 may be configured to scan the substrate 122 relative to the extraction plate 118 in a direction parallel to the plane 162 of the substrate 122. For example, as shown in
In accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure, the gas source 108 of the device 100 may supply one more feed gases to the plasma chamber 102 for use in generating the plasma 104. Such feed gases may include neon gas, xenon gas, krypton gas, and argon gas. Ion beams extracted from plasma formed from one or more of the aforementioned noble gases have been found to be effective for etching various substrate materials, including silicon.
Referring to
The extraction plate 118 may be provided with first and second elongated, horizontally-oriented gas slots 177a, 177b located above and below the extraction aperture 140, respectively, for emitting one or more residue removal gases into the process chamber 106 (
Referring to
As will be described in greater detail below, residue removal gas may flow from the manifold conduits 196a, 196b, through the interconnect conduits 198a, 198b, to the slot conduits 194a, 194b, and may be expelled from the extraction plate 118 through the gas slots 177a, 177b as indicated by the dashed arrow 204 shown in
The portions of the interconnect conduits 198a, 198b extending between the manifold conduits 196a, 196b and the slot conduits 194a, 194b, respectively, may be sized (e.g., may be formed with particular diameters) to control gas delivery (e.g., gas pressure) in a desired manner. In some embodiments, replaceable nozzles or jets may be disposed within the portions of the interconnect conduits 198a, 198b extending between the manifold conduits 196a, 196b and the slot conduits 194a, 194b to facilitate selective variation of gas delivery by implementing nozzles or jets with orifices of different diameters.
In some embodiments of the extraction plate 118, the slot conduits 194a, 194b, manifold conduits 196a, 196b, and interconnect conduits 198a, 198b may be formed by cross-drilling the extraction plate 118 from the horizontal and vertical edges thereof. Certain of the conduits may be plugged to prevent gas from escaping the extraction plate 118. For example, as best shown in
In various alternative embodiments of the extraction plate 118, the gas slots 177a, 177b, slot conduits 194a, 194b, manifold conduits 196a, 196b, and interconnect conduits 198a, 198b may be formed using manufacturing techniques other than cross-drilling. For example, referring to the cross-sectional view shown in
Referring to
Referring to
Referring again to
Embodiments of the gas injection system 115 are contemplated wherein the extraction plate 118 is provided with a greater or fewer number of gas slots than described above. For example, one of the gas slots 177a, 177b of the extraction plate 118 may be omitted. In other embodiments, the extraction plate 118 may include a plurality of gas slots located above and/or below the extraction aperture 140. In other embodiments, the extraction plate 118 may include one or more gas slots located horizontally adjacent the extraction aperture 140. The number, configuration, and arrangement of the slot conduits 194a, 194b, manifold conduits 196a, 196b, and interconnect conduits 198a, 198b described above may be similarly varied. Additionally, in various alternative embodiments, the extraction plate 118 may be coupled to more than one gas source for supplying different residue removal gases to the extraction plate 118. For example, referring to the alternative embodiment of the gas injection system 115 shown schematically in
During operation of the device 100, such as for etching a substrate 122 disposed on the substrate stage 124 as shown in
Referring to
At block 300 of the exemplary method, the extraction aperture 140 may be formed in the extraction plate 118 for allowing pass-through of the ion beam 120. At block 310 of the method, the gas slots 177a, 177b may be formed in a first, front side of the extraction plate 118 above and below the extraction aperture 140, respectively. At block 320 of the method, a network of conduits may be formed in the extraction plate 118 for facilitating delivery of a residue removal gas to the gas slots 177a, 177b.
Forming the network of conduits in the aperture plate 118 may include, at block 320a of the exemplary method, forming the slot conduits 194a, 194b extending through the extraction plate 118 and contiguous with the gas slots 177a, 177b, respectively. Forming the network of conduits in the aperture plate 118 may further include, at block 320b of the exemplary method, forming the manifold conduits 196a, 196b located adjacent the slot conduits 194a, 194b, respectively, and extending to one or more edges of the extraction plate 118 for coupling to the gas manifold 182. Forming the network of conduits in the aperture plate 118 may further include, at block 320c of the exemplary method, forming the interconnect conduits 198a, 198b extending between the manifold conduits 196a, 196b and the slot conduits 194a, 194b for providing fluid communication therebetween.
As described above, the network of conduits, including the interconnect conduits 198a, 198b, the manifold conduits 196a, 196b, and the slot conduits 194a, 194b, may be formed by cross-drilling the aperture plate 118 in directions parallel to the first, front side of the aperture plate 118 from corresponding edges of aperture plate 118. If the network of conduits is formed thusly, certain of the cross-drilled bores (e.g., the cross-drilled bores forming the interconnect conduits 198a, 198b) may, at block 330a of the exemplary method, subsequently be plugged to prevent gas from escaping the aperture plate 118. In another contemplated embodiment, the interconnect conduits 198a, 198b, the manifold conduits 196a, 196b, and the slot conduits 194a, 194b, may be formed by routing intersecting channels in the first, front side of the aperture plate 118 and the second, opposing rear side of the aperture plate 118 as depicted in
Referring again to
As an additional advantage, since there is no need for a separate shower head structure in the process chamber 106, the process chamber 106 may be made smaller, and the device 100 may thus have a smaller form factor, than ion beam devices employing conventional shower head gas delivery systems. As another advantage, since the residue removal gas is emitted from the gas slots 177a, 177b in concentrated steams directly onto the surface 192 of the substrate 122, the residue removal gas may be applied to the surface 192 in a precise, targeted manner before, during, and/or after etching of the substrate 122. In one example, if the substrate stage 124 scans the substrate 122 vertically upwardly during an etching process, starting with the substrate 122 positioned below the extraction aperture 140, the residue removal gas emitted from the gas slot 177a may be applied to the surface 192 of the substrate 122 before the surface 192 is exposed to the ion beam 120. The residue removal gas emitted from the gas slot 177b in the second gas distributor 172a may be applied to the surface 192 of the substrate 122 after the surface 192 is exposed to the ion beam 120. This operation may be particularly advantageous if the residue removal gases emitted from the gas slots 177a, 177b are different residue removal gases.
The present disclosure is not to be limited in scope by the specific embodiments described herein. Indeed, other various embodiments of and modifications to the present disclosure, in addition to those described herein, will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from the foregoing description and accompanying drawings. Thus, such other embodiments and modifications are intended to fall within the scope of the present disclosure. Furthermore, while the present disclosure has been described herein in the context of a particular implementation in a particular environment for a particular purpose, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize its usefulness is not limited thereto. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be beneficially implemented in any number of environments for any number of purposes. Accordingly, the claims set forth below shall be construed in view of the full breadth and spirit of the present disclosure as described herein.
Hertel, Richard J., Wallace, Jay, Kontos, Alexander C., Liang, Shurong, Krampert, Jeffrey E., Allen, Ernest E., Rockwell, Tyler
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10062548, | Aug 31 2015 | Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc | Gas injection system for ion beam device |
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Apr 25 2017 | WALLACE, JAY | Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 042301 | /0519 | |
Apr 25 2017 | ALLEN, ERNST E | Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 042301 | /0519 | |
Apr 25 2017 | HERTEL, RICHARD J | Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 042301 | /0519 | |
Apr 25 2017 | KONTOS, ALEXANDER C | Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 042301 | /0519 | |
Apr 25 2017 | ROCKWELL, TYLER | Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 042301 | /0519 | |
May 08 2017 | LIANG, SHURONG | Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 042301 | /0519 | |
May 08 2017 | KRAMPERT, JEFFREY E | Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 042301 | /0519 |
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